


disaster boys

by cjmasim



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Ducks, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Paddle Boats, basically a rewrite of Simon and Maia's date in 2x17/2x18
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-09 16:12:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11672580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjmasim/pseuds/cjmasim
Summary: Simon takes Jace on a paddle boat date in Central Park.





	disaster boys

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired to write this by episode 2x18; as soon as Maia and Simon mentioned ducks, I immediately thought of Jace, so this happened. Enjoy!

“You ready?” Simon asked as he climbed into the paddle boat. He offered a hand to Jace, who took it with a grin.

“Absolutely.” Jace climbed into the boat. The two of them sat in the boat for a long moment, looking between each other and the lake, before Jace finally spoke again. “I suppose I’ll do the rowing.” He grabbed the oar and got to work, and soon, they were moving across the lake.

“So, does this make me the captain?” Simon asked after a few minutes.

Jace scoffed. “I’m doing all the work, idiot.”

“Exactly. The captain gets to sit back and give orders while the crew does all the work. So you, Jace Lightwood, are the crew.” Simon was grinning at Jace, who just glared in return.

“In order to be the captain, you would have to give orders that your ‘crew’ actually obey,” Jace retorted.

“Oh, so you’re a rebellious crew member, are you?”

“Are you really surprised?”

Simon just grinned even wider, shaking his head a little, before turning back around so that he could look at the scenery. They sat in silence for a while longer, taking in the scenery; Jace had to admit that the contrast between the red and orange leaves of the trees and the gray skyscrapers behind them was rather beautiful. Though he had lived in New York for many years, he had never actually done anything so touristy, so mundane, and he was pleasantly surprised by just how ethereal the mundane world could be at times. 

“Jace! Turn! Now!” Simon yelled, breaking Jace out of his reverie. 

“I told you, Simon, I’m not taking orders from you. You’re not the captain of this ship.”

“Jace, just do it! There’s ducks!”

“Ducks?” Jace suddenly stopped rowing. 

“Yes! In front of us! We’re going to crash into them; what are you doing?”

Jace didn’t respond, choosing instead to look over Simon’s shoulder. He saw, just as Simon had said, a group of ducks, no more than a few feet in front of their paddle boat, staring at them. Finally, he woke up, and started paddling again, turning as far to the left as he possibly could without tipping the boat over. He moved the oar back and forth with incredible speed, to the point that Simon probably couldn’t have rowed much faster even if he were using his vampire speed. 

“Are we away yet?” Jace asked, not slowing down his rowing. 

“Yeah, we’re not going to hit them. You can slow down a bit,” Simon chuckled.

Jace slowed down briefly, looking back to where the ducks had been, and saw that they were still looking at him, and were still not more than ten feet away. He immediately picked up the pace again, rowing vigorously until the ducks were almost entirely out of sight. 

Finally, Jace slowed down again, looking around to confirm that there were no ducks in the vicinity, then stopped the boat completely. 

“Jace, what was that for?” Simon asked.

Jace didn’t respond for a moment, taking the time to catch his breath before replying. “I don’t like ducks.”

“Wait, what?” Simon laughed. 

“I don’t like ducks,” Jace repeated. “I don’t know why. They just… creep me out. I don’t trust them.”

“Wait. You don’t like ducks, so you just-“ Simon began to laugh harder. “You just rowed away from them? Like, you just ran away in fear?” He was laughing so hard he wouldn’t have been able to breathe even if he were still alive. “Jace, you fight demons for a living!” Tears began to escape his eyes as Simon continued to laugh at the absurdity of Jace’s predicament.

“Ducks are demons, Simon.” Jace was glaring at him, and Simon fought to compose himself.

“Okay, fine, but you never seem afraid of demons.” His composure didn’t last, and he fell into laughter once again. “What’s so scary about them?”

“They’re just cruel. The way they glare at you - it’s unnerving.” Jace was still glaring, and Simon’s laughter faded away under his gaze. 

“I’m not going to pretend to understand what’s so scary about ducks, of all things, but we all have our fears, I guess.”

“Don’t forget about your fear of balloons. They’re not even alive.”

Simon groaned. “As if you’ll ever let me forget. They’re loud, okay? And like, what if the balloon pieces shoot into your eye when it pops? They’re dangerous!”

“You miss your glasses yet?”

“Oh, hell no. Not at all. Even if they were great at protecting my eyes from popping balloons.”

“Really?” Jace smirked. “I thought they were quite charming.”

“Is that why you just had to hold my hand within minutes of us first meeting?” Simon returned his smirk. 

Jace smacked him playfully with the oar, and Simon burst into laughter again, shoving back at him until they were tugging at the oar, Simon trying to grab it and Jace trying to hold onto it. Simon’s vampire strength was the only thing keeping his attempt from automatically failing, and Jace knew it. Just as he was starting to lose his grip on the oar, Jace let go, and the force of his continued pulling caused Simon to tumble over the edge into the lake.

After a few seconds, Simon’s head popped up in the water. “Jace,” he yelled, “I am actually going to kill you!” 

Seeing Simon’s dripping wet hair and pissed off expression, Jace couldn’t help but to burst into a fit of laughter much like Simon had earlier. Simon began to climb back into the boat while Jace just laughed, and when he finally regained his seat, he immediately pushed Jace over the edge, ending his laughing fit quite effectively.

Jace’s head popped up surprisingly fast, considering how unprepared he had been, and without even saying a word, he climbed back into the boat, joining Simon in silence.

“You deserved that,” Simon said, breaking the silence.

“There are ducks in that lake.”

“You deserved that.”

Jace sighed. “You’re right.” With that, he began to shake his head rapidly, ridding his hair of water like a wet dog.

“Jace!” Simon whined.

“Oh, shut up; you’re already soaked.”

“Then I suppose you won’t mind if I do this.” Simon dipped his hand back in the lake, then leaned forward, pressing a dripping hand to the side of Jace’s head before kissing him. 

Neither of them could’ve said with any confidence just how long they sat in the paddle boat, completely wrapped up in one another, kissing softly, slowly, like they had all the time in the world. What they did know, however, was that the sun was beginning to set by the time they broke apart, casting an array of oranges, pinks, and purples over the sky. Upon noticing the sunset, Simon leaned his head onto Jace’s shoulder, and they sat in silence, watching the sunset and basking in each other’s company. When darkness engulfed the sky, Simon’s head shot up suddenly, and he shouted “Crap!”

“What is it?” Jace asked.

“We were supposed to bring the boat back by 6:00!”

Jace raised an eyebrow, looking toward the moon, and they both erupted into laughter once again. Still laughing slightly, Jace took the oar from the floor of the boat where Simon had left it and began paddling back to the shore, Simon keeping watch for ducks, which they thankfully did not encounter this time.

When they returned to the shore, they were greeted by a reasonably angry cashier who delightfully took $60 from Simon, despite Jace’s protest that they were only half an hour late. Simon handed over the money without complaint, taking Jace’s hand and leading him out of the building, beginning the walk back to the boathouse. 

“You know,” Jace said as they left Central Park, “I really enjoyed tonight.”

Simon smiled. “I know it’s early, but how about a - what are we on now? Ninth date?”

“Absolutely. Although next time, maybe we shouldn’t push each other into a lake. These clothes are getting rather uncomfortable.”

“I can take them off for you, once we get back.”

Jace grinned. “I’d love that.”


End file.
